Emailing - Huntington Bicycle Club

Date: 7/30/2023
Subject: Folks on Spokes, July, 2023
From: Huntington Bicycle Club

A Message from the President

As August approaches, we can be proud of having the first Gold Coast East on July 9th.

It was very successful on many levels:

We will be donating significant $ amounts to Kids Need More and the Dementia Society of America; 240 riders participated; There were no accidents; Fully stocked Rest stops and vivid orange road markings made the routes very manageable and navigable; It seemed to rain everywhere but on our routes!

Congratulations to the Gold Coast chair, Steve Labiner and all of the volunteers, many who gave hours of their time to make this event happen. Also, a big thanks to Howard Nussdorf, who allows the HBC to store all of the equipment for the Gold Coast in his warehouse. A huge convenience and savings for us. See Steve's message below.

Our next meeting will be Aug 8th, 7PM at the library. (please sign up!) It will be a media night, with pictures from parties for Tony Barone (90, and still riding with the Crankin'!) and Sue Barlacher. Pictures and videos from the Gold Coast and the Volunteers' Party will also be shown.

The Multi Club ride has been changed to October 7th. SBRA has invited the HBC to participate in their annual Long Island Cares ride, which includes a small fee ($10) for each rider. That charity is based in Huntington, and was started by Harry Chapin. A very worthy cause, and a chance to ride with their club.

The absolute deadline to grab a room at the Millstream Country Inn is Wednesday, August 2nd. After that, if you wish to do the Lancaster Covered Bridge Ride, you'll have to get accommodations on your own. The schedule for that weekend is: Aug. 19, Check in around noon to one PM, short ride guided by Lou Bruno at 2 PM, dinner at 5:30 PM. Sunday August 20th, after the ride, dinner at Miller's Smorgasborg at 6 PM. Look at the posting on the Website for registration and hotel information.

Below is an article about Steve Tobias, a member who just recently passed away. Even if you never knew him, he embodied the spirit of a "team player" in all that he participated in, especially our club.
See you on the road and take advantage of every day,
Karen

From Steve Labiner, Gold Coast East Chair

I want to thank everybody who volunteered their time, vehicles, tables, tents, chairs, house, etc... for the Gold Coast East. I also want to thank everyone for being so generous with donations to our charities. The HBC runs on the back of volunteers and thanks to all who helped to make the inaugural Gold Coast East a success.

We received many positive responses from the survey that was sent to the Gold Coast riders, and we’re taking their responses into account as we plan on making the 2024 Gold Coast East, an even greater success.

Dan's C+ to Huntington Bay

Caryn and Steven Tobias; Marv, Bob and Steve biking in Utah

Steven Tobias, a remembrance.

Steve embodied so many qualities that cyclists seem to have: A variety of interests and skills, love of outdoors, and a love of adventure. Steve had those, and a loving family to embrace those skills with. His dear friend, Arnie Schwartz, in his eulogy for Steve, mentioned the many trips taken together with their wives, either flying in Steve's plane or sailing with him to Connecticut. They were as close as brothers.

Tobias joined the Huntington Bicycle Club in the early 1990s. He became a member of the close knit, “Crankin' Old Men.” He was the youngest member, since most in that group are the founding members of the Club, and were some years older than he was. Steve passed away on July 23rd and was laid to rest with his yellow Crankin' Old Men jersey.

Artie Causin, also gave a eulogy, and he spoke about their cycling experiences together. He rode a tandem with his wife, Caryn, and they did trips together with Art and Terry on their tandem.

One of Steve’s great joys was to reminisce about a bicycle ride he did 28 years ago:

On June 24, 1995, Steve, Marvin Gerber, Jay Bender, Marco Vallejo, and Art Causin set out from Huntington at 4:30 AM to accomplish bicycling’s equivalent of a marathon: a double century- riding 200 miles in one day. That day they went from Huntington to Montauk Point and back. "We were all anxious. Could we do it? At that time, Steve was still in his early 40’s and he marveled at the courage of Jay Bender, for attempting a 200-mile ride at the ripe old age of 60; and then, there was Marco Vallejo, who never seemed to train, having the audacity to think they he could survive the 200-mile ordeal. But survive we all did. When I contacted Marco to tell him of Steve’s passing, he immediately reminded me of the life-long bond we all formed on that special day in June 28 years ago," said Art.

Then there were the mid-week rides. After work, for about 10 years, a group would do a fast-paced ride. It was called "The Tuesday Night Ride" that sometimes went out on Wednesdays. The ride was always filled with laughter and friendly competition. Steve did not use steroids. But he did have his own form of doping: His secret fuel for conquering the hills on Vanderbilt Pkwy – Devil Dogs!

Needless to say, Steve and the Crankin' members were close in and out of cycling. Friends on trips and many shared experiences, like brothers.

One shared experience was not so great. Steve, Art and Don Auriemma all faced CIDP, “Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy". This is an autoimmune disease that robs you of your peripheral motor function. It is quite amazing that 3 very close friends could share such a rare disease.

Steve’s sense of humor and sweet tooth remained intact, even when his body failed him. Just recently, Bob Mclaughlin and Art visited Steve at the hospital. Although Devil Dogs and Kosher Deli were off the menu, they were able to bring a big smile to Steve’s face by feeding him M&Ms.

It is not surprising that such tight connections are made through cycling. We are all riding with other people and those connections are part of the experience.

If you did not know Steve, please take a moment to revisit a cycling memory that can be relished and referred to years later, as he did. To those who were close to Steve, his memory will linger with all who knew his "joie de vivre", taken way too soon.

Deepest condolences to his wife, Caryn and daughter, Wendy.

Registration after the rush is over.

Equipment movers and Bagel lifters

Happy July and August Birthdays to our members

Anthony DiSalvio

July 29

Vincent Butera

July 29

Robert Brooks

August 1

Rayaan Malik

August 1

Linda M Kaiser

August 3

Greg C Richter

August 3

Khurram Arif

August 6

Daniel Flanzig

August 7

Colleen Eiermann

August 7

Suzanne McVetty

August 11

Jenny Pearlman

August 14

Leonard A Goldberg

August 15

Alan Schuller

August 15

Anny E Gonell

August 18

Arthur Shaw

August 19

Ojas Ravishankar

August 22

Krista M DeRoma

August 23

Terrence McDonough

August 25

Rachel Liberatore

August 25

Joseph C De Palma

August 27

Mark A Feldman

August 27

Kids Need More, a very worthy recipient of our donations

The 12 Mile ride getting ready to roll.

Monthly Meeting of the

Huntington Bicycle Club - 6-6-23

Call to order: 7:25 PM

· New Member - Dennis Greiser

· Minutes from last meeting approved

· Lancaster, Pennsylvania ride - special rate for rooms $89 Millstream Inn August 19th and 20^th

All doubles. Call them and put one onto your own credit card.

· Bike lane to be built on Park Ave. Slated to start on 2026 Town hall meeting 6-7-23 at 7:00pm

· Bike/walk LI Summit Thursday. Karen will bring Gold Coast material. It is on bike/pedestrian safety.

VP-John

· Ride leaders will go back to previous system where all rides will go through the ride captains

· Please know the ride you are leading

· All ride captains are posted on the web site

· Please sign up for club meetings!!!!

Treasurer-Anthony

· Getting money for sponsorships etc. everyday

· Insurance is the most expensive

· Income greater than spending

· Doing well = everything is going fine - on track

· Many of the sponsorships will go to the charities: Kids need more and Dementia Society

Secretary-Pat

· Will try to post the minutes to the website

Membership-Sal

· Membership now climbing - 433 members - up nine since last month

Gold Coast-Steve

· Gold Coast on target with Sponsors and T shirts

· Riders about the same as last year

· Need to get more riders with greater publicity

· Need volunteers to mark roads

Arne Johnson giving a talk on Ride Safety - Discussion

· Raffle 50/50: Bill Imhof - won $14 and bell

· Steve - bell, Arne- bell, Dennis- bell

Adjourned: 8:55 PM

Respectfully,

Pat Kalvar

View this Newsletter on our Website at Club/Newsletters

Return to Previous Page